NCAA takes a big step closer to extinction

Posted by Mike Florio on August 8, 2014, 8:28 PM EST

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A 99-page ruling has resulted in one very big problem for the NCAA.

On Friday, years of labeling revenue-generating athletes as “students” in order to justify not sharing with them the billions of dollars that have come from tickets sales, media deals, and other efforts to capitalize on fan interest in college sports took a major step toward finally ending.

Judge Claudia Wilken has issued a decision in the case filed by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon, who challenged the NCAA’s refusal to pay players any of the money generated via video games and other products that lead to profit via their likenesses. The decision applies the ultimate scarlet “A” to the entire collegiate athletics system.

Reliance on the federal antitrust laws to overturn the rule against sharing money generated from player likenesses reinforces the argument that everything about the NCAA system violates federal antitrust laws. By banding together under a four-letter governing body that limits the schools to providing tuition, room, and board only to student-athletes, colleges have prevented fair competition for the services of those student-athletes by restricting what they can receive for the sacrifices they make and the risks they take.

The O’Bannon case was limited to player likenesses. Other pending lawsuits attack all other aspects of the process.

While plenty of conference commissioners and college presidents will now blame the eventual destruction of the current system and the potential elimination of sports that don’t generate revenue on the greed of lawyers, the problem has arisen due to the historic greed of the universities, which gambled on a system that has violated federal antitrust laws for decades without consequence. Those who finally took a stand against generations of wrongdoing shouldn’t be vilified, they should be applauded.

As to the college sports that have a robust market for ticket sales and TV rights, the applause will continue. Schools that were smart enough to come up with a way to illegally profit for all those years from the free labor of athletes also will be smart enough to come up with a way to make money in an environment that soon will require those athletes to be paid fairly for their services, without artificial rules or restrictions that exploit the persons who have been primarily responsible for making the money.

To the extent that the end of any antitrust violations results in less money being available for sports that don’t generate revenue, the potential elimination of those programs will be unfortunate. Still, why should the athletes who play at a high level the sports that generate money subsidize the sports that don’t?

Outstanding! Corporations making millions off of these kids. Like anyone, the kids should share in the profits. Anyone out there wanna work for free while your boss rakes it in?

amishninjas says:Aug 8, 2014 8:34 PM

Anyone that thinks the Big 5 being granted autonomy is a coincidence is nuts. The Big 12 commish made the radio rounds yammering about paying players a stipend and relaxing rules regarding eligibility related to under classmen hiring agents for draft grades. They saw the writing on the wall.

Or just subsidize those other sports by tracking down and getting back the money from those that got too much of it in the past. There’s enough money out there for everything worthwhile, and the only exception arises when money is poorly rationed out to the wrong people or places.

kerzondax says:
Aug 8, 2014 8:33 PM
Outstanding! Corporations making millions off of these kids. Like anyone, the kids should share in the profits. Anyone out there wanna work for free while your boss rakes it in?

I tried to believe the NCAA was at least “trying” to do what was right for many years. But once they let the Cam Newton bribery situation slide and be swept under the rug, it was clear to me the NCAA is a CORRUPT organization in it only for the money. Let’s hope the ruling stands.

jayniner says:Aug 8, 2014 8:50 PM

So they are effectively creating an employer/employee relationship instead of a student/school relationship.

With this logic, we should all go to our employers demanding we get a percentage of profits from our work and cite this decision as case law.

jjpmn says:Aug 8, 2014 8:53 PM

The Vikings should respond to the University of Minnesota’s demands regarding the Redskins name by demanding that the university pay their student athletes and then come talk to them. That’s coming from a Minnesotan who doesn’t even feel strongly about the name controversy, but is turned off by the local politicians and the university acting like they don’t have bigger issues to worry about.

nflfan4now says:Aug 8, 2014 8:57 PM

I wonder if there is a way to throw this to the NFL and NBA. Colleges won’t pay athletes (except giving them a $200,000 education…), so if a player doesn;t like it they should be able to go to a pro league at any age. Your choice, an education or go pro!!

ialwayswantedtobeabanker says:Aug 8, 2014 8:57 PM

Goodbye men’s wrestling and women’s basketball, etc.

The “champions of justice” are well on their way to eliminating the non-profitable sports — that only existed by reason of the cash cow of collegiate pigskin.

The NCAA isn’t going extinct it’s just changing. They’re still going to be running things. Good luck with the NCAA bashing just because it’s easy to bash the NCAA but college sports still needs organization and management. Are the players going to do that themselves just because a few of them get some money from being on a ticket, poster or advertising? Nope

Since so very very few ever make in the NFL, NBA and so forth and generate million, some proceeds should be placed in a trust fund for each athelete to tap in the future, after retirement if proathlete, or as a x-student athlete whose athletic career has gone bust and is hurt, can’t work, needs job or training, WHY SHOULD SOME FAT CAT CEO OF say the ROSEBOWL pocket 50 million for doing nothing????

For a rights activist, the author of this opinion is sure willing to negate the ability of thousands of students to get scholarships if all of this continues down the path it’s going. Even football will be going away for a large majority of schools.

To answer your last question. Title IX really does require this very thing. Schools have already dropped some male sports teams and continue to fund female sports teams. Generally, it is football that funds the nearly all sports teams.

In fact, football subsidizes most all sports programs. Title IX means this will continue.

What disgusts me is that there are people who do not believe or take the effort to realize antitrust violations have taken place.

The first time I ever heard of this was when David Cornwell told PFT Live that Terrelle Pryor was profited off of in a cartel system in 2011 and he was right.

Economists even agree that this is a cartel and we don’t like anti-trust. But are opponents so fearful of athlete power (or whatever power they have) to the point where they think that the players will make college sports an anarchy?

Opponents need to be more empathetic of athletes because their demands and desires are parallel to the NCAA athletes.

No one likes to be discredited of work of any kind. Why is a scholarship enough when it doesn’t come from the TV revenue?

Baseball is the only one of the ‘big three’ sports that subsidizes it’s own player development, with it’s own farm system. The NBA has made strides to do the same with their own developmental league. It will be interesting to see if the NFL is eventually forced to go the same route…

These legal points seem to have been acknowledged and might stick forever.

However, in order to determine that it will take the Appeals Court to rule in favor of O’Bannon too.

Rulings in the Sam Keller went against the NCAA in Federal and Appeals Court. If Keller’s suit could make him victorious and ultimately cause EA Sports and the NCAA to no longer make video games the NCAA will have to surrender … again and as they should.

“jayniner says:
Aug 8, 2014 8:50 PM
So they are effectively creating an employer/employee relationship instead of a student/school relationship.

With this logic, we should all go to our employers demanding we get a percentage of profits from our work and cite this decision as case law.”
____________________________________

We already do. It’s called a paycheck.

vietnambob2473 says:Aug 8, 2014 9:33 PM

As a college student, if colleges have to pay athletes for playing, the general college population will see greatly increased tuition to offset the lost revenue by the schools. Not a fan. Atheletes already get all expenses paid on a full scholarship, plus extra money, as well as special concessions such as missing class, special due dates, etc. they already get plenty, trust me.

packerfanallday says:Aug 8, 2014 9:33 PM

Maybe the universities will re-focus on their mission: providing education. For-profit minor leagues can certainly fill the void.

How would the elimination of the NCAA affect Title IX? If athletes become employees then wouldn’t many of the less popular sports get eliminated because they wouldn’t be cost effective?

I think this is going to get really messy because I think a lot of female sports will get eliminated because the bottom line doesn’t add up.”

No, that’s not what it means. What it means that according to Title IX, if they are paying the men for participation in these sports, the women will have to paid as well. They can never eliminate women’s sports. They’ll only get rid of men’s sports. They will still be considered “athletes” as far as Title IX is concerned. To me, this is a bigger problem than paying the students because now the women will have to also get paid. The sad part about this is this will absolutely CRIPPLE some of these athletic departments that are barely getting by (Grambling) and use that to fund the non-revenue generating sports. I can see the future and I’m afraid it involves college sports being relegated to men’s football, men’s basketball, and however many women’s sports it takes to balance out the number of scholarship “athletes.”

terryleather says:Aug 8, 2014 9:47 PM

And then the high school players will be wanting their cut too.

What’s wrong with the way the players get paid under the table now? Star college football players who have never had a job in their life drive better cars than I’ll ever own.

gadlaw2012 says:Aug 8, 2014 9:56 PM

Coaches getting paid more than teachers and College Presidents and students getting nothing and lose their scholarships if they get injured. It’s bad all around. Good to see it start to crumble.

Even here in America, especially here in America, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Many sacrifices are made by countless unknowns to provide us with a free and open society. That shining city on the mountain top is polished with the blood, sweat and tears of those who’s names we may never know. What the hell, the world is over populated anyway, let them eat cake.

Sportsfan18 says:
Aug 8, 2014 8:59 PM
“Still, why should the athletes who play at a high level the sports that generate money subsidize the sports that don’t?”

Why should citizens who work, pay their bills, live within their means, follow the rules subsidize citizens who don’t?

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Because senior citizens and the disabled, the overwhelming majority of whom comprise the people our tax dollars benefit, would shrivel up and die without it. The members of the golf and wrestling teams won’t die if they’re forced to pay their own way like every other non-revenue generating sport participant or regular student.

Set a salary amount that all universities offer say 30,000 a year(Has to be a standard to keep the playing field level) or the option of a scholarship.

This way the student can decide if they want to take 30,000 a year and borrow 150,000 to get a degree. Or work a part time job on campus and get a free education.

Done and done. No one can say it isn’t fair because they chose.

kreplachistan says:Aug 8, 2014 10:29 PM

Look, the deal for decades has been this: “You play for us and in return you won’t pay a dime for the education you receive here.” In today’s terms that’s a 4-year value ranging anywhere from $75k to well over $200k… assuming the student athlete was willing to take advantage of it. For a long time that was enough. Now that’s not enough. Everybody wanna get paid.

OK then: Let’s dispense with this whole charade of an athlete who receives money from a college being a student at all. From now on, a paid player is an employee of the college. That player will receive an annual salary relative to the value he/she brings. They will not attend class, and when their time is done, they are not an alumnus of the institution. That future honor will be reserved for the Engineering or English Lit majors washing dishes in the dining halls between classes to make ends meet. As it should be.

No where else on earth does the higher education system of a country place such an emphasis on sports. Everywhere else… the emphasis is on education.

It’s a new paradigm and the NCAA has itself to blame for delaying and refusing to see the light. Now courts ruling will only muck it up. The best thing to do is for the NBA/NFL/NHL/MLB to have their own developmental / minor league systems and pay a lesser salary compared to the pros. Guys go there directly and skip the college farce altogether. Play for ten years then up or out. They play in smaller arenas throughout the country.

The remaining athletes that do not fit that model can stay in the college / NCAA system but would have limited draft value. While they are at it, give a stipend to all athletes male and female. Revenues will drop so scholarships are all eliminated for both males and females. They pay for their education just like the English and Physics major.

Or keep the system as is and pay all athletes male and female for all sports regardless of who brings in more revenue. Otherwise this will be in court forever and the NCAA will lose in the end if they think only footballers will get paid.

Where does it end? You are eligible to work in this country at 16, so if a girls junior varsity high school swim team is somehow profitable, do you pay them out… and at what percentage? Do they get a share of booster hot dog sales as well? The anti-trust violation is the collusion between the NCAA and NFL / NBA requiring mandatory years before entering a draft, not an agreement to provide services in exchange for other services. Who should get paid, the 118th man on Div III Pigsmate U? Or, just the starters of a super-conference? Please do not desecrate the sanctity of amateur athletics. If someone wants to go pro, let them. Otherwise, if you sign a contract for services, honor it and shut the hell up.

It’s NOT Corporations that are the problem here people, it’s the Universities! Pay attention to the facts..
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Universities ARE corporations, maybe not publicly traded companies, they are right in the thick of the market with their products (e.g. TV networks). Even though they may apply for non-profit status, doesn’t mean that the organization doesn’t profit… one of the bigger misconceptions about ‘non-profit.’

These failed at the pros athletes don’t understand what a $200000 education is worth. If O Bannon had been successful and made millions in the pros, would he still be filing a lawsuit? Take your education and get a job. Sorry it doesn’t pay millions per yr but a lot of jobs don’t.

Players in the NCAA don’t have to worry about that. That should be enough. They shouldn’t get paid. Plain and simple.
____________________________________________________________
Yeah but nobody paid to watch you study. Nobody bought a video game with your likeness of you going to class. And nobody cares that you are in debt. Maybe you should have got an academic scholarship. At least they earned their athletic scholarship, you’re just sitting around complaining about someone elses benefits.

Start paying the students their share of the profits and then take away all scholarships. Who’s fault is it that these students dont use their time in school to actually learn? Who’s fault is it that they turn pro and become busts? Without all those millions of dollars that these schools make nobody would see these kids play. Without the TV contracts who would know about them? The day that Michael Jordan or Ervin Johnson come out and speak about this issue then it will hold some weight. But when you have Ed “Big time bust and broke” O’Bannon as the spokes person then you lose that credibility. If he was well off like he should have been this would not have happened.

goldrush36 says:Aug 9, 2014 12:34 AM

Start payin….. but start charging. ALL players tuition….. Then they will see if the juice is worth the squeeze

Careful what you wish for, you might just get it. For the sake of argument, let’s look at how a minor league football operation would operate in place of major college football. Every year, you would have thousands of high school football prospects going to minor league football teams. These players would make an annual salary less than the value of the scholarships they receive from their schools. Every year, about 300 of these thousands would make it into pro football and the other 90+% would have nothing to show for their efforts. No education, probably not even a start. And someone is going to try to sell me on the idea that this is best for these kids?

Please.

rainponcho87 says:Aug 9, 2014 1:21 AM

I think the current system does exploit the “students”. People above are quoting the cost of a university education and saying that is fair compensation. But if you are doing football 60 hrs a week and getting your head beat in, that doesn’t leave you a lot of time to work on your “communications” major. Most players are helping to generate millions of dollars, but not getting a worthwhile education and not becoming a pro athlete. No institution of higher learning should pay a football coach more than the university president or a Nobel laureate.

There is already a model for this sort of thing, and it doesn’t require the end of all sports. Student teaching assistants are paid and also given tuition remittance for teaching classes. Why? Simple, because graduate students can do the job well enough, it’s cheaper than hiring professors to teach each lab section, and it makes the college money. If mens football and basketball make money, set up a similar system of tuition remittance and an hourly income. At our university you can’t make more than 50% of the standard teaching wage, because you shouldn’t be spending more than half a work week (20 hours) on things besides your studies. So that places a cap on things, but for students that are piss-poor and are only at college because they are gifted athletes they at least won’t be forced to go hungry because they have no other form of income.

Sure, some schools may try to compete at what the wage is that the 50% salary is based on, but if you force them to tie it to standard university employees (as teaching assistants are) then they couldn’t artificially raise it without also giving raises to their full-time employees. Plus, a really successful program (like Alabama) which offers athletes a better chance at entering the NFL or NBA would be promising the potential of far more money over their careers than an extra thousand or two a semester.

The point is that this doesn’t have to result in millionaire college students, or the destruction of college sports (and the non-profit ones could be run the same way they are now). It just requires universities to change the designation of students in profit-driven sports to match that of other students who get paid.

I do believe the players should be payed or at least afforded the right to generate their own income thru endorsements or however they’re able to do it. However, i do believe the big money sports should subsidize many of the sports that don’t attract large crowds. Just like the arts & other extra curricular activities in public schools, imho, i think it would me tragic to lose sports like wrestling, lacrosse, & the sports that are most at risk ate women’s sports. I might be a caveman by many people’s standards but i do believe women should still have the opportunity to get an education from sports scholarships (having a niece that plays lacrosse) the women are probably the only demographic that are actually using sports scholarships for actual educational purposes. We all know they rarely get a chance to cash in from their respective sport.

motobus says:Aug 9, 2014 2:48 AM

Maybe stop paying coaches millions.

motobus says:Aug 9, 2014 2:52 AM

The only arguments against the payers getting paid seem to come from people that are jealous that they had to take on debt to graduate from college. If you were in the top 95 percentile of what it is you did you would have gotten a scholarship whilst still being free to monetize your skills.

I think you are all missing the point. The O’Bannon law suite was only suing over money from when the universities profited off the players likeness so this is simple, no more video games and no more jerseys with numbers on them. Ticket stubs won’t have players pictures on them and programs won’t be sold anymore. When promoting games on TV it won’t be watch Braxton Miller and the Buckeyes take on Devin Gardner and Michigan it will just be watch the Buckeyes vs Michigan. The school can profit off the team as a whole just not the individuals. I think it will be a long time before they actually have to pay players to play, they just have to stop profiting off the likeness and that should be easy enough to do. I think this decision is fair but I think the bigger picture still isn’t changed college sports will continue on as always.

If you can’t have college sports without exploitation, then you can’t have college sports.

In nearly every state, the highest paid public figure is a football coach at a state college. This is a significant indication of a system gone wrong.

_____________________________

No, this is how things work in this world. If you are able to preform well and generate millions for the place you work, you will be in high demand, and be paid as such. (see Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher, Mark Dantonio, etc…)

My guess is that less than 1,ooo student athletes nation wide become professional athletes each year. I bet even more go on to careers in the sports industry as coaches, administrators etc. than as players. Seems to me that sports scholarships are still a great bargain for the vast majority of participants. Again we change a whole system for a perceived slight to the few. It seems that the majority will suffer for the few. I hope at least my tax money will stop flowing to these athletes as they do get at least $5,000 per year in Pell grants if there is a financial need. Oh and since many of these institutions are government run, maybe my taxes will go down.

jackdaniels1 says:Aug 9, 2014 8:53 AM

“I think this is going to get really messy because I think a lot of female sports will get eliminated….”

@ silentmajority : would anyone even notice?

celticsforever says:Aug 9, 2014 9:01 AM

bubbybrisket says:
Aug 8, 2014 8:43 PM

Will I get paid $500 since I play intramural flag football?
_________________________________

This isn’t about being paid for flag football or frolf. This is about putting Sammy Watkins (or whomever) on the cover of EA Sports NCAA Football and making millions and millions off that front cover image. If some corporation took your image, slapped it on a billion coffee mugs and sold them for profit, wouldn’t you want some money from that?

maverick2560 says:Aug 9, 2014 9:19 AM

As the father of two D-1 football players ( one a walk on ) I have
seen how hard and committed a young man needs to be . This is
not only to be successful but merely to be part of a team. When. one realizes the revenue generated by D-1 football programs it is overwhelming. Where I think critiques of payment to players
fail is to fully understanding the required time a player must participate
In mandatory activities related to their sport. This increases if a player
has some type of injury.
My son suffered an ACL injury. He was required to be at rehab 5
Days a week at 7 am so his classes would not interfere. After his intial
rehab he was required to be at rehab at 7 am and then return for normal training which took up 2-3 hours a day. During the season he typically reported to practice at 145 ( we wouldn’t want to be late ! )
And returned to his dorm or apt at 630 to 7 after mandatory training
Table. He then attended a mandatory breakfast. ( typically a grad assistant would randomly audit attendance) .
There are many issues to consider clearly D-1 football players do not receive compensation that is in any way related to income. I do not
want to see minor revenue sports ( which required just as much commitment) eliminated or cut back. Where is the line?
Unfortunately in America certain attributes or abilities are valued at different financial levels. An sports commentator on a local level
receives less than a national ESPN sports commentator. This is a fact.
We need to allow the players to relieve a larger part of the pie!

jeffesky says:Aug 9, 2014 10:01 AM

Corruption and system manipulation here is another example of how our inept government sets the standard for all to follow. Ethics, morality, honesty, honor , accountability and integrity are not words we associate with our leaders which is sad.

I am sure your kids were well aware of what they were getting into when they signed that scholarship paperwork. If they don’t want to make the commitment then PAY for school like a normal student. I bet you were all for him signing those papers for a free education. He was also compensated with a FREE education, which will probably get him further in life than football. So stop your whining and be thankful that your kid had a gift that was able to gain an education.

… and what is your point ? Why are the Kids playing Football and Men’s Basketball responsible for supporting these programs? Pretty sure at 60K tuition or better per year, per student they can manage. Maybe start by taking a look at the salaries and expense accounts of the School Presidents/Deans, AD’s and Coaches

Several years ago, there was this kid playing football for Colorado (or maybe UW). At any rate, he wasn’t a scholarship athlete. He wasn’t destined for the pros but was simply serviceable on his college team. However he was a pro skier and had a few endorsements. That ran afoul of NCAA rules because he is suppose to be an “amateur” athlete. It didn’t matter that the earnings had nothing to do with football or NCAA. I believe it went to arbitration or court and the kid was forced to go he back all the money he EARNED from his pro skiing in order to stay on the team. I can’t remember what the kid decided to do but that helped shape my opinion that the NCAA model is flawed, unfair and abusive. I’m glad to see the wheels of this abusive machine starting to come off.

The NCAA should just give in and pay the kids to play – have a draft just like the NFL – a salary cap like the NFL and then make sure the players pay their income taxes and feel real life – especially in the outrageous tax states like California, New York, and New Jersey.

The players can still elect to get scholarships which won’t count against their ability to earn, but they would be paid minimum wage for all practice and game hours.

Also if athletes are paid, then there is no longer a need for title nine – fake sports for women should be dispensed with and all sports should make a budget or be phased out if they cannot support themselves in the marketplace.

So, they found 1 liberal judge in CA appointed by the womanizer who sided with players…big surprise! Let’s see what happens when it goes before an Appeals Court or the US Supreme Court.

College players play by choice and get compensated in free educations. Thier “skills” are worthless in the real world so they should thank their stars for the opportunity. I agree colleges are killing the “wholesomeness” of ameteur sports…but not more than this ruling.

Letting this ruling stand will destroy sports as a whole. Less popular sports will be obsolete (in the US), which will translate to the being weakened in the world competitions & Olympics. Then, lawyers will start to attack elementary,
junior high & high school athletics…because “they take advantage of students”. This whole subject is a lawyers dream…but a normal persons nightmare.

I think it’s a fair trade off if you play football for a free education.

However, I’m not sure how people can justify the NCAA dropping the hammer on a kid who’s charging a couple bucks for an autograph, and then turning around and making millions on the likeness of the same athlete in way of video games, jerseys and clothing.

Thier “skills” are worthless in the real world so they should thank their stars for the opportunity.

__________________________________________

I’m not sure how you can say their skills are worthless when the NCAA generates billions of dollars in revenue a year. Billion dollar stadiums and arenas are built for these athletes, so saying that their skills are worthless in the real world rings hollow.

Why should bureaucrats at colleges and the NCAA profit from the hard work of students playing sports? Universities have been fixing the prices of these players for years, that is why some programs have been successful cheating: because top recruits are more valuable than the scholarship they are receiving.

I’m glad the ruling has been made but I am very curious to see how it will effect college athletics. Everything is changing.

Anyone that supports this ruling (that isn’t getting paid in some way) isn’t looking at the big picture. This ruling affects all scholastic activities that either generate revenue or reward students (apart from grades) for efforts made. That means that all student athletes (including Junior High & High School), Work Study programs, Graduate Students who Teach Classes or do Research…all will now need to be “appropriately compensated”. This is ridiculous. I agree colleges are ruining the good of College sports and that should be addressed by congress…given their tax exempt status. But student athletes get “free” education, the value to that is worth way more than any amount schools will pay them.

stixzidinia says:Aug 9, 2014 4:01 PM

It’s a new paradigm and the NCAA has itself to blame for delaying and refusing to see the light. Now courts ruling will only muck it up. The best thing to do is for the NBA/NFL/NHL/MLB to have their own developmental / minor league systems and pay a lesser salary compared to the pros.

——————-

2 of the 4 you mentioned already do have their own developmental leagues.

swu32733 says:Aug 9, 2014 4:05 PM

Anyone who thinks these “student athletes” are exploited and underpaid has not recently paid for a college education.

Nobody has ever told any of these athletes that playing college sports is mandatory. If they prefer to not play collegiately in lieu of an opportunity to make a couple bucks somewhere until it is determined whether they are or are not good enough to make it in the NFL or NBA, do it. The great majority of those electing that path will be uneducated, broke, and struggling to stay out of welfare lines by 23, but we all have choices to make in life. I personally believe tuition, shelter, food, and a monthly stipend in exchange for playing a game is a pretty good deal, but they do have options if/when deeming the aforementioned scenario more favorable. While freedom of choice is a great thing, I’m hoping that promising young athletes recognize 95% of them won’t be able to carve out a career playing professionally, and choose a path that leads to becoming contributing members of society as opposed to burdens on a tax-paying public that never even had an opportunity for a free education as a choice.

The college basketball tourney will be the loss in all this. Butler, Gonzaga and Villanova will fall away as they will no longer be able to keep up in recruiting.
It will be basically the big conferences in the field of 64. Get paid to go to Iowa St, Georgia or Arkansas or go to Indiana State and get nothing (or much less). Remember the 3 schools I mentioned dont make the tourney often. Now they will as less better players will go to smaller schools.

This is aside from the direct loss the kids in the smaller sports will experience (most of us won’t notice if Louisina Tech drops its women’s basketball program.)

“Nobody has ever told any of these athletes that playing college sports is mandatory. If they prefer to not play collegiately in lieu of an opportunity to make a couple bucks somewhere until it is determined whether they are or are not good enough to make it in the NFL or NBA, do it. The great majority of those electing that path will be uneducated, broke, and struggling to stay out of welfare lines by 23, but we all have choices to make in life. I personally believe tuition, shelter, food, and a monthly stipend in exchange for playing a game is a pretty good deal, but they do have options if/when deeming the aforementioned scenario more favorable. While freedom of choice is a great thing, I’m hoping that promising young athletes recognize 95% of them won’t be able to carve out a career playing professionally, and choose a path that leads to becoming contributing members of society as opposed to burdens on a tax-paying public that never even had an opportunity for a free education as a choice”

There is no such thing as a free education. Every athlete works for their education. In fact there are many sports where the NCAA calculates that the athletes spend in excess of 40 hours per week on mandatory team activities. Many of them are actually ones considered “non revenue” sports that only give partial scholarships. When you start looking at what the schools are actually giving their athletes you do get to a point where the value is not commensurate with the effort. There should be a minimum amount of compensation be it in the form of a scholarship or in the form of direct pay that an athlete should get and it should be tied to the minimum wage to prevent the value of their compensation being diminished by coaches increasing the amount of hours they are expected to spend on their sport.

maverick2560 says:Aug 11, 2014 5:33 PM

You ignore the obvious…college football is the minor league
system for the NFL. Players cannot even hire and pay ( not receive)
any money to an agent. The tradition of college football is an
event that many people cherish and enjoy why eliminate it. Just be fair
to the product.if college football players got even a 30 percent cut of the revenues and were required to pay for their tuition room and board they would be far ahead. I would think most incomes would exceed 100000. Another issue most are not aware is that many schools
sell the right for a family or person to sponsor the scholarship. In the programs ( Penn State) you will see a families name as the sponsor for
the middle line backer. The players attend a practice picnic with the sponsor or in other schools maybe a dinner. The players also send thank you cards. So PSU actually does not pay the scholarships. People
actually pay for the right to pay! Of course the player gets nothing.
The revenue is so large the cost of a scholarship is minuscule !!